


Tattoos and Flowers

by Bringobaggins



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Christmas Fluff, JMGE, JeanMarco Gift Exchange, JeanMarco Gift Exchange 2017, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 08:20:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13096158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bringobaggins/pseuds/Bringobaggins
Summary: Jean hated working at his families flower shop. He had violent allergies, and he hated the older ladies who would come in and hit on him. One day though, a freckled man walks through his door and buys some lilies, setting of a turn of events Jean never thought he would ever experience.





	Tattoos and Flowers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Madblippo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madblippo/gifts).



> HERE IT IS. I HOPE IT DID IT JUSTICE. I'm glad I have prior knowledge of tattoo shops because thats ALL I KNOW. This fic really made me think lmao. It was not what I'm used to but I had a great time writing it!! I really hope you enjoy it Floraldead!(or Madblippo. IDK WHAT YOU PREFER)

Jean hated working at his family’s floral shop. It would always mess with his allergies and the old ladies that would come in were constantly hitting on him. But it was paying for school, and he was very fortunate to even have a job. Kirschstein’s Floral Arrangements was the most popular floral shop in Trost, and it would be considering it was the only one. There was always a fresh supply of orders coming in, so Jean would have to balance that on top of his homework as well. Of course, his mother was there to help too, she was kind of the reason Jean was there as often as he was. 

 

Caroline Kirschstein was a lovely lady. Jean loved her dearly, but she did not like that her son was going to school for photography. Their family had owned the flower shop for several generations, and she wanted Jean to take over next. The two of them would often butt heads over it. She knew Jean had allergies, but she had gotten him medicine to help, so it wouldn’t be as bad as it usually was. Even so, he would take every chance he could to get out of working at the shop, and it made her crazy.

 

Jean knew she needed help keeping up with the orders, and he felt bad that he couldn’t enjoy it like she wanted him to. The flowers were pretty, he could admit that, but the thought of working there for the rest of his life was...less than appealing. He did have a knack for putting together bouquets though, and he took pride in that. His always sold before his mothers did, and that was the problem, because she would put him in charge of preparing the orders.

 

There was, however, one upside to working at the floral shop. It was where Jean had met Marco.

 

Marco loved working at his sisters tattoo shop. He loved the smell of green soap and aquaphor, the buzzing of the tattoo guns, and the loud music that would blare through the shop. To him, it was calming and he could lose himself in his work. He had gotten his own studio in the back of the shop once he started to become fairly well known for his watercolor work. Marco had started off as a shy apprentice and worked his way up to the most requested artist in the shop.

 

Everyone seemed to love Marco. He was always kind and quiet. While his sister would blare heavy screamo music, he would play more alternative rock with bands he could remember from his teen years. The studio was decorated with things that would be considered weird and creepy. Ymir had a bunch of living dead dolls and skulls surrounding her work area, Historia had a bunch of ball jointed dolls that always kind of creeped Marco out even more than Ymir’s. She also had some (fake)shrunken voodoo heads and a few pentagrams around her station. Lastly, there was Armin. Armin was obsessed with crosses and death and his station showed that. He had books about the human body, pictures of post mortem bodies and some figures of horror movie icons. 

 

Marco’s room was different though. It lacked the stereotypical ‘weird’ vibe that his coworkers loved. The best way to describe his room was nerdy. On his shelves, he had all of the ‘Lord of The Rings’ figures lined up, funko pops of Frodo, Sam and Gandalf, a display of pokeballs and even some beanie babies. The walls were decorated with other various ‘Lord of The Ring’ quotes and pictures amongst other things. Marco was not a typical tattoo artist, in fact the only tattoo he had was the Tree of Gondor on his left forearm. Ymir would always try to get him to be her canvas, but he was content with just his single tattoo. At least for now.

 

Amongst his nerd collection, Marco also loved flowers. He had several plants on the window sill and on his desk. He also had a small corner dedicated to lilies. Marco wasn’t sure why but he absolutely adored them. The way they felt, the way they smelled and the way they looked.

 

It was also the way he met Jean.

 

\-----

It had been a normal day for Jean. It was slow in the morning, making things a bit easier on him and he was able to peacefully put together a display of white and stargazer lilies. He stood back to admire his work and smirked a bit. It was one of his best yet, and it didn’t make him sneeze up a storm!

 

He cleared off the table he had been using for their spring beginnings bouquets (they were mostly gone now anyways) and set them up as neatly as he could. He had already prepared a sign for them, so he took it out and placed it outside the door. It was finally getting warmer, and with Easter around the corner, the Lilies would sell quick.

 

He made his way back to the counter to start going over their customer orders for the day when the doorbell jingled. He let out a groan, figuring it would be some old lady, come to flirt with him again. He was pleasantly surprised though to find it was a young man, no older than himself. He was lean and tan with black hair and millions of freckles decorating his face and his arms. And he had...he had a Lord of the Rings tattoo. Jean felt his heart start to pound, and just staring at the attractive man before him was very flustering.

 

The man walked over to the table of lilies and started to look over them. Jean swallowed before walking over to them. “You interested in buying?” 

 

The man jumps a bit and looks at Jean. “Oh! Uh, yeah. I love lilies. They’re so mystic and I’ve never seen the stargazing ones before.” He touches one of the petals gently and hums a bit.

 

“Yeah, we don’t order them too often because they can get kinda expensive.” Jean says smoothly. “Usually we only get them when we get wedding orders, but my mom said they would probably sell the best so...here they are.” God just stop talking now. He didn’t even ask.

 

But the man laughs and looks back at the flowers. “Really? I had no idea...I always associated lilies with funerals. I know they signify souls of the departed. I guess that sounds kinda dark…”

 

“Not really. You’re right, they can symbolize death, but there are many types of lilies and they all symbolize something different.” Jean smirks, crossing his arms. He’s never sounded so smart before, at least about flowers.

 

“Really? I never knew that. I always just assumed that they were just y’know, funeral flowers.” The man laughs again. Jean really loves his laugh. It’s warm and kind. “So what do stargazing lilies mean?”

 

“Prosperity and abundance. Sometimes romance. Like I said, they’re usually used in weddings.” 

 

“Ah...you think...they’d be okay in a tattoo shop?” 

 

“Excuse me?”

 

The man blushes and bites his lip. Jean likes the way he looks and he feels a lot of blood rush down his body. “I work next door...my sister Ymir, she owns the tattoo shop. I wanted some lilies for my room. I thought it might make it seem more peaceful and a nice break from my friends stalls.” 

 

“Well I think they would do just fine as long as you take proper care of them. You have access to sunlight I hope?” Jean raises an eyebrow at him. He couldn’t believe this guy was a tattoo artist, he acted the total opposite. 

 

“Of course I do.” The man looked a bit offended. “I have a lot of different plants in my room. I find it helps my clients calm down a bit, especially first timers.” It was his turn to smirk. “Do you have any tattoos?”

 

It was Jean’s turn to be taken aback. Of course he didn’t have any tattoos, those things were forever. You couldn’t turn back after you started. “No.” 

 

“Mm. You look like you should be covered in them.” The man laughs again and Jean turns red.

 

“What's that supposed to mean!? I look like I should be a thug!?” Jean exclaims.

 

“I’m kidding!” The man picks up a vase and continues to smile. “I’d like to purchase these  _ sir _ . How is that for a thug?”

 

“Oh god, do not call me sir. I’m Jean.” He leads him to the register and starts to punch in the numbers.

 

“Jean, hm? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Marco.” 

 

Marco. It suited him. He looked like a Marco. “Well Marco the thug, it’s nice to meet you then.” 

 

“I guess I deserve that.” Marco laughs and takes his debit card out from his wallet. “I hope you’ll be keeping the lilies for a while. This will be my first time taking care of them so…”

 

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine. I’ll try to see if my mom’ll be ordering any more after this lot goes. I could...You could give me your number, and I could call to let you know or…” Jean wanted to smack himself. He worked next door. He could just...walk inside--.

 

“Okay!!” Marco looked excited as he wrote his number down on the back of his receipt. “Please let me know! And...I can let you know if they survive the first couple of days if I have your number too.” Marco bites his lip, looking a bit eager.

 

Jean eagerly writes his number down and gives it to Marco. “Here. I think you’ll do just fine though Mr. Tattoo Thug.”

 

Marco laughs and grabs the vase. “I’ll see you around Jean.”

 

And that was the start of their friendship.

 

From there on, it was the start of a fantastic friendship. Marco started to frequent the flower shop a lot more often. He managed to keep his lilies alive and after they stopped blooming, buying different flowers as the seasons changed. Jean loved every single moment. He would get so excited as the bell rang, and if he wasn’t already up there, he’d rush to the front.

 

Marco would always come in early on, before the tattoo shop opened. He’d look around, maybe buy a rose or some plant food, talk to Jean for a bit and then leave. Occasionally, he would bring Jean a cup of coffee or something. As it got colder, he would bring him hot chocolate. Marco found out that Jean loved hot chocolate with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

 

Jean had even managed to go into the tattoo shop a couple of times to sit with Marco as he worked on his clients. He came to know Marco’s co-workers and even regular customers. Marco had been working on a big, burly guy named Reiner. He looked like he could pulverize Jean with one punch, but he was actually a huge teddy bear. Marco had been working on a very intricate design on the mans back, shoulder and over his chest. He was part Polynesian, and had requested swirling patterns of shark teeth within an ocean design. It was Marco’s first time doing a cultural tattoo, and he had been nervous. Jean being there helped calm his nerves a bit and the three of them joked around.

 

Jean was entranced at the way Marco worked with the tattoo gun. He was so precise, he had to be. Jean thought Marco was a wonderful artist. Marco was wonderful in general, and he was head over heels in love. But there was no way that Marco would ever want to date someone like Jean.

 

Which was why when Marco came into the shop one day with a panicked look on his face, he was completely taken aback.

 

“Jean I need to ask a huge favor of you.” he panted. His cheeks were red from a mixture of the cold and a blush. “Look, my family has a Christmas party every year and uh...I may have told them that I have a boyfriend and...I was just...I was wondering if you would mind...if you wouldn’t mind pretending just for the evening...we don’t have to kiss or anything just you might have to spend the night and--”

 

Jean couldn’t hear Marco anymore. He felt like his brain had stopped working. Here was this beautiful, freckled god before him, asking him to pretend to be his boyfriend. He couldn’t believe it. He could feel his own face heating up and without a second thought he blurted out, “I’ll do it.” 

 

Marco stopped talking. “Y-you will? Really?”

 

Jean nodded. “Yes. You’re my best friend Marco, how can I say no?”

 

“Well, I mean, you could say no…” Marco scratched the tip of his nose (Jean noticed he would do this when he was nervous). “I know it’s not a normal thing to ask your best friend.”

 

“It’s not, but I don’t mind.” Jean smiles at him a bit. “Should I bring anything?”

 

Marco shakes his head. “No, you don’t have to. My family is big into cooking and they always make a little to much so…” he drifts off.

 

“Alright, so when is it?” Jean asks.

 

“This Friday at 8. I can take you after I close up the shop.”

 

“Alright, it’s a date.” Jean smiles again. “I’ll see you at eight!”

 

“Thank you so much Jean, I totally owe you for this!” Marco reached over the counter and hugged the other man tightly. Jean let out a very unmanly sounding squeak before returning the hug with a laugh. “Don’t kill me freckles!!”

 

“Sorry Jean!” He let him go and headed for the door. “I’ll see you later! Text me!” And then he was gone.

 

Jean spent the next few days in a state of panic. He had no idea what to wear to this sort of thing. He usually avoided holiday parties, but he wanted this one to work out. Marco DID like guys, and he had a good chance of maybe even actually scoring to be Marco’s actual boyfriend. He finally decided on a navy blue sweater with a nicer pair of his black jeans. Gods did he hope it was good enough.

Friday came and he paced nervously around the shop, keeping an eye out on the time. It inched closer and closer to eight and his anxiety got worse and worse. Jean heard the bell jingle in the doorway and Marco was standing there. Jean swallowed thickly as he looked at him. Marco was stressed in soft looking white cashmere sweater with a pair of tight black skinny jeans. The sweater blended nicely with his tan skin and it was just...so fitting for him. He looked beautiful. He offered Jean a smile and scratched the back of his head.

 

“So are you ready to go?” He asks.

 

Jean felt as though his stomach was about to explode. He had never eaten so much food before in his life. Marco wasn’t kidding when he had said that his family always made to much. But, damn if it wasn’t one of the best meals he had ever had. They were just finishing when the questions started.

 

“So how did you two even meet? You don’t work at the tattoo shop with them, do you?” Mrs. Bodt had asked.

 

“No ma’am. I work next door, my family owns the flower shop.” Jean replies, reaching for his glass of wine.

 

“Seriously?” Ymir grinned and laughed. “I was wondering where he was getting all those flowers from. His studio was turning into a damned floral shop.”

 

Marco looked down, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. Jean laughed and reached over to squeeze his hand. “Yeah, Marco told me he loved flowers. I’m actually terribly allergic but business is business I suppose. My mom wouldn’t let me out of it completely. I’m going to school for my masters in photography.” 

 

“Photography, huh?” Mrs. Bodt smiles. “That sounds lovely, Jean.”

 

“Thank you.” Jean smiles and looks down. He feels Marco squeeze his hand next and he lifts it to his mouth to kiss it.

 

“Not at the table, c’mon…” Ymir groans. “Keep it to your bedroom.”

 

“Like you’re one to talk.” Her girlfriend, Historia, retorts with a huff. “You would be all over me if you could.”

 

“Alright, that’s enough.” Marco’s mother laughs. “How about dessert?”

 

“What did you make?” Marco asks.

 

“I made chocolate cream pie. Just the way you like it.” She grins at him.

 

Jean groans and touches his belly. He was going to die. Marco looks at him before looking back at his mom. “Can you save us a piece actually? Jean looks like he’s about to pass out. I’m gonna take him to lay him down.” He stands and helps Jean up before leading him back to his room.

 

Jean looks around the hallway as they make their way down. They lived in a very nice home. It wasn’t to big but it also wasn’t to small. It was just perfect. It suited Marco, who had opened the door to his room. Jean didn’t know what to expect but it certainly wasn’t what he got. The walls were pastel blue with pictures of flowers all over the place. Marco had a small collection of plants on his windowsill and decorating his computer desk. He had a couple of bookshelves filled to the brim with as many books as he could fit. And it smelled like lavender. Marco sat down on his bed and smiled at him. “What do you think?”

 

“It’s….you.” Jean moves to sit by him and continues to look around. “You really do love plants.”

 

“Yeah. Nature is just so peaceful and I spent a lot of time going down to the park and playing in the trees and stuff. I just wish I was better at tattooing them.” Marco giggles. “Jean...thank you so much for tonight. It really means a lot.”

 

“Hey, no problem.” Jean bites his lip before placing a hand over Marco’s. “I like your family. They’re really nice.”

 

“I’m glad you think so.” Marco’s eyes fell onto Jean’s hand. “I really...I really enjoy spending time with you.”

 

“I do too.” Jean says. “Marco...there’s something I wanted to ask you, especially after you asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend.” He gulps. “I...I don’t want to pretend.”

 

“Huh?” Marco blinks at him.

 

“I don’t want to pretend. I want to actually be your boyfriend.” Jean blurts. “I like you a lot, since the day you first came into my shop.”

 

“Jean...s-seriously?” Marco asks. He feels his face heat up again. “You like me that way?”

 

Jean nods, meeting his eyes with Marco’s. “So...do you want to?”

 

“Of course I do!” Marco wraps his arms around Jean’s neck and hugs him. “I liked you too, Jean. I just...I didn’t think--”

 

“I know. I didn’t either, but about you.” Jean laughs. He pulls away and stares at Marco before leaning in to place their lips together.

It was totally silent. They were a whole world away at the moment, and the both of them enjoyed every minute of it. Marco fell back to his bed and Jean hovered over him as they kissed. The both of them tasted like alcohol and brown sugar and they loved it. It was warm, snow was falling heavily outside and nothing could break them of their moment.

 

Jean broke away after a moment, continuing to stare down into Marco’s chocolate, brown eyes. “Wow...Marco…”

 

“Yes, Jean?” He smiles, reaching to touch his cheek. “Boyfriend?”

 

“Nerd.” Jean grabs a pillow and covers Marco’s face with it. 

 

Marco laughs and pushes it away before pulling him back in for another kiss. “Thank you so much Jean. I think this has been the best Christmas ever.”

 

“And we’ll have many more to come, right?” Jean moves to spoon himself around Marco. He was a couple of inches shorter but he didn’t mind. The taller boy snuggled around him happily.

 

“I certainly hope so.” 

 


End file.
